


Love, happiness, you and me.

by MunheeMae



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 18:06:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19278628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MunheeMae/pseuds/MunheeMae
Summary: AUPAIRLIFE is the last place that Maxwell thought he would find love. It never occurred to him that the boy he would hire as au pair would be cute as hell and oblivious to the flirting. Getting to know each other outside of their work relation was never fully Maxwell his intention, but once he did he couldn't stop himself or resist the growing feelings.





	1. prologue

Maxwell sighs as he looks at the divorce papers in his hand. They are signed to finalize the divorce between him and his wife Kate. The woman he has spend eight years of wonderful relationship with one that existed out of love and friendship. All thrown down the drain because Kate decided to run off with her boss.   
When Kate decided to run off with her boss she also decided to leave Maxwell alone with the two kids they have together. She gave him full custody over the kids so she wouldn’t have any worries.   
Kate wanted to start a new life and she didn’t want to take her responsibilities from her ‘past’ life with her, she told Maxwell oh so casually. 

Maxwell runs a hand through his brownish locks and lets another sigh escape from his lips. He wonders how someone can think of their kids as a responsibility. Especially when Kate wanted the kids as much as Maxwell wanted the kids but now she’s leaving them behind as if she never wanted the kids.   
Maxwell doesn’t mind having the full custody and responsibilities of them, because he loves his kids. Nonetheless, it’s hard to take care of them and work full-time to support them.   
The kids have had countless nannies already in the time that Kate has left them, none of them suitable enough to take care of the kids. All the nannies where either too awed of the place Maxwell owns, or too awed by Maxwell his appearance. 

Because of the bad luck with nannies, Maxwell has decided to expand his search for a nanny. He found out that next to a nanny he could hire an au pair, or that he could hire a childminder at home to take care of the kids.   
Maxwell never thought of bringing the kids to a day-care, because he wanted to be able to see his kids the moment he came home from work and having a nanny at home was the best op-tion or so he thought before he expanded his search.   
Maxwell had browsed a lot of sites about childminders and au pairs before he decided to go with an au pair. That way the kids would have someone they know around every day of the week and if he had a business trip he could ask the au pair too.   
Other than that Maxwell wanted an au pair he was hoping to find a male one, because all the nannies he had where female and that didn’t go as well as he thought it would go. Because the males always seemed less awed with him, thinking he was just an asshole who is stuck up. Even though a lot of guys think Maxwell is a stuck up asshole once they get to know him they think differently of him and they always have respect for him.   
Maxwell found a site called ‘aupairlife’ where he found more information about getting an au pair and which papers are needed for him and the au pair to have him fully registered to work for him.  
After reading a lot about au pairs he decided to sign up right away for the site and since then he’s been searching full-time for an au pair.


	2. ~1~

“Mister Lewis?” Maxwell get snapped out of his thoughts by his secretary Luna.

“Yes, Luna?”   
Maxwell looks up from the papers that he has been staring at, smiling slightly at Luna to show her she can tell him why she disturbed him.

“There’s a visitor for you, can she come in? You have some time left before your next patient.”

“Sure.”

Maxwell starts putting the papers he has been looking at away so that they aren’t in the open for prying eyes because he doesn’t know who is there to visit him. Maybe one of the old nannies Maxwell had for the kids decided to visit him to ask for their job back. It wouldn’t be the first time one of them did that.   
When he looks up, he sees Kate standing in front of him in the door opening.

“Hello Maxwell,” she says sweetly “It seems like you received the signed divorce papers.”

Maxwell blinks slightly, he didn’t expect Kate to show up. The only times he has seen her since she left was when both had to appear in the courtroom. He gives her a once over, she is and will always be a beautiful woman, her looks were always a plus point. Recently it’s the only good thing he can find about her. The betrayal did hurt Maxwell, a lot; but it did hurt more when Kate decided that the kids didn’t mean anything to her at all.

“Hello Kate, yes I did.” Maxwell says bitterly

“That’s good.”

Kate takes a seat in front of Maxwell his desk and he stares at her; she stares back at him with unfriendly eyes.

“So,” Kate says, “How are Darryl and Zachary doing?” She asks.

Maxwell is quite surprised that she is asking that because beforehand she never showed any interesse in the kids.

“They are doing well. They are doing excellent. I’m sure that’s not the case why you are here, so can I help you with something?” Maxwell ask, keeping his tone cold and shifting his eyes back to the desk.

“Well, actually I’m here to tell you that both Harry and I decided to move from England. We will be living in Germany.” She says calmly. “We decided that the kids will stay with you.”

“I see,” Maxwell purse his lips slightly and gives a small nod in response to his answer. “If that’s all then you can leave again. I have a meeting with a patient in a few minutes.”

“I’m leaving this weekend. I want to spend some time with the kids.” Kate says as she stands up.

“I’ll see if the boys want to see you. You should call me tonight when I’m back home from work.” 

Without as much as another word Kate turns around and gets out of Maxwell his office. He lets a deep sigh escape from his lips, not noticing he has held it in while Kate was here.

Maxwell takes of his glasses and rubs his eyes slightly, returning his glasses on his face again and taking out the divorce papers. He scans them another time and then add his signature to the bottom; the only thing that was missing to make the decision final.

Once he is signing the papers, he stops the in an envelope ready to be send out. He picks up his phone and dials the number of Luna her phone.

“Luna?” he says once Luna picks up.

“Yes sir?” Luna asks, trying to keep her tone natural.

He knows why she is doing that, because it’s never sure what mood I’m in once I’ve seen Kate or spoken with her on the phone.

“I have an envelope that needs to be delivered as soon as possible, please make sure to do that while I have my next appointment.”

“Yes sir.”

“Thanks.”

Maxwell hangs up the phone and within a few seconds Luna is in his office. He hands her the envelope and she put it in her bag.

“Shall I send in your patient or do you want to wait a bit before seeing him?”

“I’ll call him in myself Luna, just make sure to get those papers delivered as soon as possible.”

She gives a small nod and close the door behind her once she left the office.   
Maxwell closes his eyes and lets his head rest on his hands, wishing he can leave work already to go home.

After a few minutes Maxwell stands up from his chair and walks to the door, opening it and looking inside the waiting room.   
“Mister Wright?” he calls out.

A young male stands up from the chair and walks towards him, Maxwell holds out his hand to shake the hand with Brandon, his patient.

“Hello Brandon, come in.”

Brandon walks into the room and he sits down on the chair, Maxwell takes place in front of him. Maxwell looks at the boy and see he’s fiddling with his hands. A sad expression written over his face. The young boy has been dealing with depression for years and the past six months Maxwell has been his psychologist. Hoping to be able to help Brandon overcome his depression.

An hour has passed and the appointment with Brandon has been coming to an end – it’s also Maxwell his last appointment of the day. He is happy he can go home soon.   
“Do you have any questions Brandon or something else you’d like to share before we end the session?” Maxwell asks.

Brandon shakes his head and Maxwell slowly closes the notepad he had on his lap.

“Next week we don’t have an appointment.” Brandon nods at the statement Maxwell makes. “So, I’ll see you in two weeks Brandon. If anything happens send me an email.”

“Yes sir, I will. Have a pleasant day.”

Brandon gives a small smile before he leaves the office. Maxwell sits down in front of his computer. The moment he sits down he starts typing a report of the appointment between Brandon and him to put in his files.

When Maxwell is done, he looks at the clock, it’s 6 P.M. finally his workday is done. He saves the files he was working on and turns his computer off.   
Once Maxwell got his coat on and his briefcase in his hand he heads out of his office and the building. On the way out he greets some of his co-workers who are also heading out.   
When Maxwell has entered his car, he lets his head rest against the steering wheel, a loud sigh escaping his lips as he lets Kate her words run through his mind.   
She’s just leaving the boys behind to move to Germany with Harry, without thinking about what that would do to the boys. How can a mother do something like that to her kids?   
Maxwell bangs his head against the steering wheel softly before sitting straight up again and starting the engine.

Maxwell slowly rides out of the parking garage to make his way home where he knows that his boys are waiting for him, so they can eat dinner together before bedtime.   
He is lucky that his mom can babysit the boys while he is looking for another nanny or until he has found himself an au pair. He knows that they are in good hands with his mom and that they will get all the love they need without their own mom being there.

When Maxwell arrives at home, he parks his car in the garage, getting out as fast as he can. He locks the car door before he leaves the garage. Once Maxwell steps inside the house, he sees Zachary and Darryl running towards him. Happily screaming the word ‘daddy’ repeatedly as they both cling to his leg. Maxwell crouches down and picks them both up, Zachary wraps his arms around his father’s neck immediately, hugging Maxwell.

“Hey boys, I missed you two.” Maxwell gives a peck on their cheeks.

With both boys on his arm Maxwell starts to walk towards the kitchen – the smell of freshly made spaghetti lingers in the air and he smiles as he smells it. Once he is in the kitchen, he puts both boys down and they run off immediately, probably to play again.

“Hello mother,” Maxwell greets his mom. “Thanks for watching the boys again. I hope I’ll find someone else soon, that way you can stay at home and rest like you deserve.”

“Don’t worry about it my dear.” His mom Abigail replies, and she turns around to look at him. “They are sweethearts. It’s no problem at all.”

“I know mother, but you’re retired and yet you’re still sort of working for me. When I get a nanny, I’ll sure to give you a nice trip with dad.”

“Don’t you dare boy.” His mother says, swinging the spatula in her hand to show she’s meaning it. “They are my grandchildren; I don’t need anything in return for watching them.”   
“Fine mother but at least let me repay you with a dinner night then.”

His mother just sighs before turning around, she knows Maxwell is stubborn and that he won’t let it rest until she accepts one of his offers at least. It’s an endless cycle they’ve entered once she started to babysit for him. Since the month she has started babysitting the boys again he keeps offering her to do something to repay her and she always says no but he won’t accept not anymore and will plan at least something for his parents. 

Maxwell grabs something to drink and sits down at the dining table, watching his mother cook. He is glad his mother can help him around with babysitting and all other chores that must be done while he is still looking to find someone else to fill in for the position of nanny – or well more manny since he wants a male nanny.

“Son?” his mother’s voice gets him out of his thoughts. “How was your work today?” she continues as if he was listening from the moment, she has started talking to him.

“Huh,” Maxwell says sheepish. “Did you say anything mom?”

“No, I didn’t Maxwell, so how was work today?”

“It was okay, well that’s only for the therapy sessions other than that it was well interesting.” Maxwell says as he stands up.

“Why so?”

Maxwell walks to the cabinets and opens the one that holds the tableware in it. He grabs the plates to set the table.

“Oh well, you know.” He says casually. “Kate showed up today. Told me she is moving to Germany with Harry. One good thing is that I got the divorce papers this morning. I signed them and Luna made sure to get them send back. So, the divorce is finally going to be finalized.”

“Well, isn’t that a good thing dear. That the divorce is finally going to be finalized.” Abigail says as she stirs in the pot with sauce. “What do you mean she’s moving to Germany. She’s not taking Zachary and Darryl with her, is she now?” there is slight panic noticeable in Abigail her voice.

“She isn’t taking the boys with her mother, calm down. She does want to see them before she’s leaving this weekend though. She would call about it, but I don’t know if she did that while I was working.”

“I don’t recall any incoming calls dear. Also, we’re talking about Kate, she probably said it to make you think she cares just even a bit about the boys.” His mom says venomously. “Don’t worry too much about it dear, just make sure to focus on your kids”

“I will mother, thank you. I was just surprised she showed up at my work.”

Abigail doesn’t reply to him, knowing that they won’t stop talking about Kate if she does reply. Maxwell just finish setting up the table instead of continuing the conversation in any way because he knows of his mom’s distaste for Kate.   
“Max don’t put down a plate for me. I’ll be going out with your father for dinner tonight. He asked me out last night.”

“Okay mom. Well you can go home already if you’d like. I’m sure I won’t be able to mess up the last few moments of cooking the dinner.” Maxwell laughs as he says it. Because he knows he can mess it up even if it’s nearly done. 

Abigail laughs and turns down the flame of the stove. She puts down the cooking utensils and takes off her apron and grabs her stuff from the countertop and smiles at Maxwell.

“Thanks honey. Just make sure to let it simmer for another 5 minutes and then you can take it off the stove and eat dinner with the boys.” His mom instructs him, Maxwell just nods. “I’ll say goodbye to those two adorable grandsons of mine.”

Once his mother left the kitchen Maxwell finishes setting up the table and putting the tableware for his mother back into the kitchen cabinets.

When dinner is all done cooking Maxwell calls Zachary and Darryl, they both come running into the kitchen within a few seconds. Nearly crashing as they try to enter the door together.

“Are you boys that hungry?” Maxwell laughs while asking the question.

The boys both nods excitedly and Maxwell helps Zachary into his highchair, once he is sitting in it Maxwell takes his plate and scoops some of the spaghetti onto it. After cutting the spaghetti smaller for Zachary he puts down the plate in front of Zachary again. After that he does the same thing for Darryl and then Maxwell puts food on his own plate, sitting down between both of his boys.

“Eat well boys” He says before digging into his food.

Both boys start to dig right in their food, making quite a mess of it, Maxwell only chuckles at the sight letting his boys eat the dinner.

“What did you guys do with granny today?” Maxwell ask once they are done with dinner.

“We went to the park” Zachary says full of excitement.

“Really? Well Darryl what did you do today?”

A deep sigh leaves Darryl his lip and he looks up at his father, a slight pout forming onto his lips.

“Went to school.” Darryl murmurs. “Granny allowed me to watch TV though when I came home.” A small smile appears on Darryl his lips after saying that.

“Well, did you have fun at school today?”

Darryl slightly shakes his head; Maxwell is used to it by now that Darryl isn’t having much fun at school. He does understand it, because Darryl is also affected by the situation with his mother.

“So,” Maxwell says, “who wants some ice cream?”

Darryl and Zachary both nod and make excitement noises. Maxwell laughs and stands up, picking up the empty dishes so he can place them in the kitchen.

When he is in the kitchen to grab the ice cream the phone rings, a soft groan leaves Maxwell his lips walking towards the telephone. He grabs the telephone and doesn’t recognize the number on the screen, he still picks up the phone to see who is calling.

“Hello, this is Maxwell speaking.” He says once the phone is placed against his ear.

“Hello Maxwell,” The voice of Kate is echoing from the other side of the line. “I wonder if I can meet the boys tomorrow, to say goodbye to them.” She says.

Maxwell leans backwards a bit, looking at the table to see Zachary and Darryl waiting for their ice cream. He is in doubt whether she can see them or not but seeing that tomorrow is Thursday she will be leaving soon. He does want the boys to be able to say goodbye to their mom, so he has no other choice than to say yes.

“Yeah, you can. I’ll let my mother know, she’s watching them during the day for the time being. She will let you in so you can see the boys.” Maxwell says running his hand through his hair.

He knows the boys will be heartbroken, seeing their mother is leaving them again. This time it’s even different than the last time and Maxwell can’t do anything about it. They won’t be able to see their mother anymore if she leaves for another country.

Zachary won’t fully understand what will be happening because he’s still young, but he will have questions once he is older. Darryl will understand what’s going on, he’s a smart boy and Maxwell hated how much it affected Darryl for the first time when Kate left.

“Thank you, Maxwell, tell the boys I’ll be seeing them tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I will. Bye Kate.”

Without any reply, the phone call gets disconnected and Maxwell put down the telephone. He grabs three bowls for the ice cream and fills them up with ice cream and whipped cream before walking back towards the boys.

When Maxwell puts down the bowls in front of the boys they start digging in right away, Maxwell sits down an lets a soft sigh escape his lips, unnoticeable for the kids, before he speaks up.

“Boys, tomorrow your mother will come.” He leaves out the part that their mother must tell them something, he doesn’t want to answer the questions Darryl is going to ask him.

He doesn’t want to disappoint Darryl, so it seems best for him to just leave it out and let Kate tell them the news herself.

“Mom?” Maxwell gets out of his thoughts by Zachary his voice.

Maxwell looks up at Zachary and sees he has a big smile on his face.

“Yes, little tyke. Your mama will be here tomorrow.”

Both boys cheer happily and Maxwell sighs again, under his breath so the kids won’t notice it. He runs his fingers through his hair, pushing it back before he starts to eat his own ice cream. He hopes his mother will be able to calm the boys down once the bomb is dropped on them, if not he will cancel the rest of his appointments for that day and go home.

He knows his mother will be furious, but she will keep it in, for the sake of the boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to update each Tuesday. Which means a dibble update this week because I forgot to update last week.


	3. ~2~

Zachary and Darryl are cuddle up against Maxwell, watching a movie on Netflix. All three of them dozing off. Maxwell his mobile starts ringing, making him alert again. He takes out the phone of his pocket and sees he has received an e-mail. He turns of the screen of his phone again and looks at the two boys, seeing they are half asleep.

“Boys, it’s time for bath and then you’re off to bed.” He says, tickling their sides softly.

Soft giggles escape the lips of Zachary and Darryl, before they sit right up. Maxwell stands up and picks up Zachary, holding him with one hand he holds out his other hand towards Darryl.

“Let’s go.” Darryl grabs Maxwell his hand and gets off the couch, they make their way towards the stairs and going upstairs.

Once they are upstairs Maxwell put down Zachary who walks towards the bathroom with his brother, Maxwell following them behind. Maxwell fills up the bathtub once they are in the bathroom, both boys standing there watching their father filling up the tub.

“Little tykes go get undressed.” Maxwell says as he keeps filling the tub. He hears them rustling behind him, knowing they will be getting undressed.

Once there is enough water in the tub Maxwell turns off the water and turns around towards the boys, seeing that Zachary is struggling with his clothes and Darryl is nearly done undressing. Maxwell crouches down in front of Zachary, helping him get off his clothes. He is happy that Zachary is already potty trained for the day and only needs diapers for the night, which means they don’t have to go to Zachary his room first to take of the diaper. Maxwell places both boys in the tub once they are both fully undressed. Both boys start splashing water at each other and Maxwell slightly shakes his head at them just watching them enjoy teasing each other with water. He is happy how carefree the kids look, knowing what news they will be hearing tomorrow he wonders how much of those moments he will have the coming weeks.

“Time to get clean boys.” Maxwell hands a washcloth to Darryl, making the washcloth for Zachary wet himself before he starts to clean Zachary.

He first cleans the left-over spaghetti sauce that is still all over Zachary his face before cleaning the rest.

 

Once they are sparkling clean again and Maxwell has washed their hair, he lets them play with the foam for a little longer as he grabs two towels to dry off the boys. Maxwell helps the boys getting out of the tub once they are done, wrapping the towels around both boys.

“So, what bedtime story do the two of you want today?”

“Jungle book.” The boys say in choir.

Maxwell nods at them and helps them dry off, helping Darryl only with his hair. Once the boys are fully dry, he puts the towel around their waist, seeing as the pyjamas are still in their room. Zachary is starting to yawn and rubs his eyes; Maxwell knows he won’t be awake much longer once he starts reading the bedtime story.

“Let’s get dressed boys.” Nodding their head, the boys start walking out of the bathroom towards their own separated room.

Maxwell following behind Zachary to help him dress in his pyjamas. Once Zachary is in his room he walks towards his bed, before he can walk further to it Maxwell scoops him because he needs a diaper on.

When Zachary has a diaper on and his pyjamas Maxwell lays him in bed, seconds later Darryl comes walking in with the story they want to hear. Most of the time the reading happens in Darryl his room but on days like this where Zachary is super exhausted, they do it in Zachary his room. Darryl crawls next to Zachary and Maxwell sits down on the end of the bed, watching them cuddle before he starts reading the story. While reading the story Maxwell watches to the boys a few times, he is catching Zachary trying to stifle a yawn and he stops reading.

“Want to have a sleepover tonight boys?” Both boys perk their heads up slightly as soon as those words have left Maxwell his mouth, no matter how tired they are they both manage to have a big grin formed on their lips.

“I take that as a yes,” Maxwell says because they don’t reply. “Then it’s time for bed now. Tomorrow we’ll finish reading the story.”

Zachary snuggles closer to his brother while Darryl nods at his father. Maxwell gets off the bed and tucks the boys in, kissing them both on top of their heads.

“Goodnight little tykes.”

“Goodnight.” Maxwell slowly leaves the room, looking at the boys before he closes the door slightly, seeing Zachary has fallen asleep already.

 

Maxwell sighs as he lets himself fall on the couch in his study, grabbing his phone out of his pocket. He unlocks it and starts dialling his mother’s number. Within seconds after putting the phone against his ear he hears his mother’s voice.

“Darling is something wrong?” She asks immediately

“Nothing is wrong mother; I just want to give you a head ups because Kate will be here tomorrow. Please for the sake of my kids, act normal mother.” Maxwell begs slightly. “I know you don’t like her, I also don’t like her, but I want to keep my kids and not have her take them away from me. Plus, we don’t know what she will do tomorrow, for all we know she changes her mind and wants to take Darryl and Zachary with her.” Maxwell hears his mother pacing around the room and a desperate sigh leaves his lips before he starts rubbing his temple with his free hand, feeling a small headache coming up.

“I promise I will try. I can’t say it will work but I’ll try my best. For you and my grandchildren.”

“Thanks mom. Enjoy your night with dad and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thanks honey, I’ll see you tomorrow and don’t worry too much.” Before Maxwell can mutter a reply, his mother has hung up on him.

Once his mother has hung up on him Maxwell lowers his phone and just stares blankly at the screen for a few seconds before getting distracted by the e-mail notification he has. He decides to get behind his computer to check his mail on there. He will also search on the au pair site in hope that he may find a few candidates that he can pick from. Seeing he hasn’t been able to look at the website he is registered the whole week because of his busy schedule he is slightly afraid of a whole lot of messages.

Maxwell drags himself off the couch and starts walking towards his desk, where his laptop is standing. While he waits for his laptop to start up, he drums his fingers softly on the desk. Once his laptop shows the sign in page he starts typing in his password.

Maxwell immediately opens the browse and starts checking out his mails, especially to check out the one he got when he was with the kids. He only catches a bit of that e-mail before he deleted the notification, but he saw that the name of the au pair site was mentioned in it and he wonders if someone qualified has finally answered him. His eyes scan the mail once he has opened it. It doesn’t give much information only that he has a heap of messages left to be read.

He opens the website through the link in the e-mail, which directly leads him to the inbox on the website. He scans through the names and pictures that are with the message’s, seeing that at least eight of them are female, he decides to delete those because of the previous encounters he has had with female nannies.

only four messages are from males, Maxwell opens the first message that is left and reads through it.

 

_Good day mister Lewis,_

_I’m Jason and I’d like to contact you over the spot you have open for an au pair position._

_I’m 23 years old and recently got my degree in childcare, the job would be an amazing experience and would look good on my resume. Especially for later jobs it would be very nice to have this as experience on my resume._

_I hope to hear something back from you mister Lewis._

_Kind regards,_

_Jason Smiths._

 

Because of his resume the boy thinks he acts like a professional with just mentioning it, but it doesn’t seem to fit for Maxwell. Mainly because of the way he wants to use it just for his own good. Maxwell does know it will be great to have someone that knows his business, but what he has learned is probably the standard book stuff and some experience he got during internships, but he does barely mention anything else expect for it being great for his future. Maxwell isn’t sure what to do but he doesn’t delete the e-mail just yet. Maxwell opens the other message he got and frowns slightly at it, trying to understand the language it is in, seeing it isn’t in English, so he deletes it immediately. He then opens the other message.

 

_Dear mister Lewis,_

_My name is Mateo and I’m from Spain. I’ve always loved working with kids and have been helping at the shelters in my country that shelters little children._

_I love doing the work there, but I want something different. I want to be able to explore other parts of the world and be able to work with kids over there. I hope I qualify for you to work with your kids._

_Kind regards,_

_Mateo Herrera._

 

Maxwell isn’t sure what to think about this guy, he seems very goodhearted with working at the shelter in his country but working at a shelter or as a nanny is totally different and what if he only wants to come to England for other reasons. Maxwell just wants the best for his kids, and he won’t make any choices if he isn’t sure about anything, so he decided to open the other mail.

 

_Hello mister Lewis,_

_I’m Hyunshik and I’m 26 years old. I’ve travelled the world as an au pair for more than 5 years already by now. I’ve been in different countries in Europe._

_The last family I stayed at I worked at for more than a year. This was in America. I am highly skilled in the English language and I’m able to help the kids with their education._

_I’ve had experience in a lot of age ranges I know how to make healthy meals; I’ve learned that at all my previous jobs as au pair. Which means I don’t have any problems making dinner for the family. I’m familiar with different kind of cuisines. I don’t mind doing any housework during the day when the kids are at school or sleeping._

_I’m also not interested to plan a new personal life during the working times, which means I won’t be planning any of my personal meetings during the weekdays, aside from medical appointments. I hope I’ve told enough about myself._

_If you have any more questions than you can ask me them._

_Sincerely yours,_

_Hyunshik Lee._

 

Maxwell is impressed by the male his working experience, the only thing that he doesn’t feel comfortable with is the age of the male. This is mainly because Maxwell is 29 so he is only a few years older than the male and he doesn’t think that will be very comfortable.

But so far this person seems to be the most qualified candidate, then again Maxwell doesn’t want to hurry the whole process, but it wouldn’t harm to send out a reply to the male. So, Maxwell hits the reply button, staring at his screen thinking about what he should reply to the male, before he starts typing.

 

_Hello Hyunshik,_

_I’m glad you’ve sent me a message regarding the au pair spot I’ve open._

_I’d like some more information about you if you don’t mind, and maybe some reference from your old employees. Only if they are okay with it too of course._

_I also would like to know how long you’d like to stay as au pair in the United Kingdom as I’d like to have someone who’s willing to stay around the 2 years because I think that’s the best for my boys. Well that was it for now._

_Kind regards,_

_Maxwell Lewis._

 

Once Maxwell hit sent, he starts browsing the site to read some of the experience some people have had with the site and the people they’ve hired. After a while Maxwell opens a new tab and starts just browsing the internet. After a while he looks at his watch and sees it’s only 8:30 P.M. but he is already tired. Yet he doesn’t want to sleep now because he knows he’ll be up during the night and having a hard time falling back asleep then.

So, he gets up, making his way to Zachary his room first, checking if the boys are still asleep. Maxwell opens the door and peeks his head inside, he sees they are both steady asleep, so he silently closes the door again before making his way downstairs to kill some of the time there.

 

Maxwell grabs some cookies from the kitchen before he walks towards the living room, where he lets himself fall on the sofa turning on the TV and flipping through the channels. He settles with a movie that has just started playing. Maxwell absentmindedly stares at the screen while eating the cookies he has grabbed, letting himself get lost in his own thoughts.

Wondering what went wrong between Kate and him and their relationship. The relationship looked good, Maxwell isn’t a workaholic and he always made time for Kate and the boys. In the eight year they have been together Maxwell did a lot to keep Kate happy but also the boys. He did everything he could for her during their time together. Maybe he has worked a lot before their wedding but that was to finance the wedding she wanted.

It’s hard to imagine that eight years could be easily thrown down the drain, but Kate didn’t seem to care about it all. He wonders if he will ever find love again, maybe not with a woman anymore since they don’t interest him that much anymore. What he felt for Kate he has never felt for another women, or men to be honest. Even though he had his fair share of relationships with both male a female before he got together with Kate. He still can’t find any reason as why she had to be disloyal to him while he had always been loyal to her.

After the breakup Maxwell have been set up on blind date by his mother, friends and even some of his co-workers. He always came with the excuse that he was busy and couldn’t find dates thus being set up by people around him on a blind date. A few of them seemed nice; but he couldn’t connect with them on a second date. He is happy his best friend Emma hasn’t tried to set him up on any dates, even thought she would know what type he would like the best, but she promised not to do that. Because she wants him to have his own choice in whom he goes on a date with, plus she knows he’d like to take his time with it.

Poking around in his love life hasn’t helped that much so far, even though he does always accept those blind dates he has been set up with, because who knows he thinks. Maybe he could find his new love through one of those blind dates that are set up by other people. And who knows maybe he won’t find any true love anymore and he won’t even mind that much because then he can give all his love and attention to Zachary and Darryl.

 

After what appears to be way too long, he can finally shake the thoughts out of his mind and focus on the movie that he was watching, which is already halfway through. He groans and turns the TV off, not even bothered to try and understand what the movie was about since he already missed so much of it. “Might as well go to bed.” He murmurs to himself. Even though it’s quite early Maxwell gets off the couch and goes upstairs to sleep. This way he at least will be waking up early to have some more time with Zachary and Darryl in the morning before going to work.

 

In the morning Maxwell is awoken by his phone that starts ringing. He grunts and tries to find it, a small thud on the floor indicates that his phone has fell on the ground. Maxwell gets out of bed slightly and grabs his phone, turning of his alarm clock. While doing so he notices he got an email from the au pair website. Maxwell decides to lay back in bed before opening the mail, scanning his eyes over the mail it says he got another message from another person. So he opens the page on his phone and logs in. within seconds the message page is loaded and he opens the new message he got.

 

_Dear mister Lewis,_

_I’m Boyd Davis. I’m from Montreal, Canada and I’m 18 years old._ _This is the first time I’m doing this, so it’s slightly awkward for me._

_Anyway, I saw you’re looking for an au pair and I wonder if the spot is still available. I’m taking a break from college right now; this is because I don’t really know what I’d love to do, and I thought it would be nice to be in a different environment._

_This way I can learn about the real world. Who knows even maybe enroll in college abroad once my time as au pair has ended?_

_Don’t worry though I do have my sheer knowledge about taking care of kids, as I have younger siblings and I’ve taken care of them for ages already, because my parents have a fully packaged schedule._

_Thanks to that I also have knowledge about cooking and cleaning. Unlike any other boys of my age I’m luckily not into the party scene or any other scene which would keep me distracted from working with your kids._

_I’m very interested in hearing more from you mister Lewis, as I’m interested in working for you. I think it’s actually a great thing that I can help someone out with his job in a way like this._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Boyd Davis._

 

Maxwell reads over the message again, compared to the messages he has gotten last night this kid seems to be more sincere than that Jason guy that mailed him. Maxwell may even prefer this Boyd guy over the Hyunshik guy. He doesn’t know for sure yet thought. So he decides to take contact with them both to make a choice that will fit him and his boys. Maybe neither of them is fitting and in the end it’s all about Darryl and Zachary ad the two of them should be able to make a choice too.

Maxwell hits the reply button and starts writing his reply.

_Hello Boyd,_

_Thanks for the message about you taking interest in the job. The position has yet to be filled, and your message seems to be very sincere. I like that a lot, sincerity can bring you a lot but that’s not the point here._

_I’d like to have some extra information about you, and if you don’t mind maybe a reference from either your parents or maybe if you’ve worked for someone else as a nanny. This is of course if neither of those people disagree to do that for you._

_There is some other person that’s also interested in this position, so I’d like to get the know you guys to make my decision easier. This is also one of the reasons why I’d like a reference from you. From that point on we will be able to discuss all the other things._

_Kind regards,_

_Maxwell Lewis._

 

After sending the message he decides that he can stay a bit longer in bed before getting ready for his work. Which he dreads today because of Kate is coming over for the boys today.


	4. ~3~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> double update because i haven't been able to update in a while. Was busy finding a job and with moving

Boyd groans at himself, he feels so pathetic for signing himself up online for the contest where he can earn quite some money if he wins. He has to game and defeat everyone to win the prize, it’s actually really pathetic but he doesn’t care. Because pathetic is currently the only way that fits his description perfectly.   
Boyd recently became a college dropout who is helping to take care of his siblings and having two part-time jobs, which are getting quite boring. Through those two jobs, he did save a lot of money and he would like to use that money to at least travel once in his life. He figured out that he needs quite some more money before he can make that happen though, so that’s why he entered the contest.  
But who knows, maybe he must be stuck in Canada forever he doesn’t know. He decides to quickly log out from the site and maybe check later tonight for more information.   
After logging out of the website and closing the internet browser Boyd spins around on his chair, before realizing one thing. He doesn’t know jack shit about online gaming, as he never has been a fan of it much. Maybe he should look for someone that’s good in online gaming and is close to him, so they can play the contest for him. Maybe he will find some extra rules and whatnot online and maybe he can practice a few times. It didn’t sound like a hard game; it was a game called ‘Rocket league’ which was something with soccer and cars. 

As Boyd is still spinning on his chair, he notices the time on the clock, letting himself abruptly stop the spinning as it is time to leave the home to pick up his little sister from the day-care. He grabs his keys before he heads out of the house, locking the door after him. He looks up slightly and sees it’s sunny outside, so he decides to walk to the day-care of his sister. Which luckily isn’t that far away from their house, just a ten minutes’ walk.   
Both his parents are currently very busy with their jobs, his dad because of the new promotion – as a junior partner of the law firm he works at. His mother is busy because she has a manuscript to finish for a big play that’s coming up. To be honest, Boyd always thought his mother was way too busy with her work rather than her family, he doesn’t understand why she has three kids. It may be his father’s wish to have three kids and his mother just went along with it to keep him satisfied. He doesn’t even remember his mother being there a lot when he was younger. After school, it was always the nanny and then his father would be home and once in a blue moon his mother would be home before he went to bed. Because of that he never had a good bond with his mother but lately, because his father is so busy, they barely had time together too. He hasn’t even been able to tell both his parents that he has dropped out of college. 

Instead of going to college every morning, Boyd goes to one of the two part-time jobs he has been working on ever since his summer break – his working days get reduced to one evening a week for a few hours at a time after the summer break. Now he has a part-time job at a publishing company, and he goes there three days a week, with changing hours, but he always starts in the morning.   
Next, to that job he has a job at a small diner Bakelicious, where he is working full days on the weekend since they serve lunch and dinner, he can make 8 hours each day there as a waiter. Which means that next to a paycheck, he gets tips every first of the month.  
His tips are always spent on himself and doing something fun. Usually, he ends up spending his tips on an outing with his siblings. With his paychecks he always pays his bills and spends what he needs to spend, may it be groceries or clothes he always has a limit he can spend on those things every month. All the other money he has left goes into his savings, for when he needs it to escape everything. 

Lately, Boyd has the feeling as if that moment is coming closer and closer because he is not feeling like himself lately. He has that nagging feeling that something is missing in his life, or that something is out of place and he can’t grasp what that thing is, making him feel confused a lot.  
He is also struggling a lot with his sexuality lately, as he has been confused about it a lot. Seeing as he never has had any serious and real relationship but only a few short ones with girls he doesn’t know why he is doubting. Since a few weeks, he has been doubting whether he likes girls or that he, in fact, likes guys, especially after the encounter he had at publishing-ready with this young new male writer he hasn’t been quite sure how he should be feeling. After that encounter, he has caught himself staring at males a bit too often, especially at his barista job.   
Everything together makes the feeling of something being awry only worse, and he can’t seem to accept it yet that he’s feeling all those confusions, because what if it’s only a phase because it has only been happening since a few weeks. Yet he thinks it won’t be the worst idea to escape everything and get to know himself better. 

Boyd is so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn’t notice the person in front of him and they collide, getting Boyd out of his own thoughts, noticing that he has already arrived at the day-care location of his sister. Boyd looks at the person he has collided with and sees that the male is giving him an angry glare, Boyd is happy that the man didn’t fall and is still standing.   
“I am very sorry, sir,” Boyd says immediately once he seems the glare is getting angrier.   
“Watch where you’re walking boy, you better be happy I wasn’t holding a cup of coffee or anything else. Because if that was the case it would have cost you a lot.” The male says.   
Before Boyd can utter a reply at the male, he hears his little sister scream his name, so he looks at the direction it’s coming from and he sees that his sister is running his way. Once she has arrived, she hugs him tightly.   
Boyd looks up and sees the male is still standing there, shaking his head slightly and having a disapproved look on his face.   
“I’m very sorry. I’d like to make it up to you sir. If you come to Bakelicious this weekend, you’ll get a free coffee and baked good on the house. Just make sure to ask for Boyd and I’ll be helping you then.”   
The male doesn’t reply, only giving a slight nod with his head before he walks away, Boyd follows him slightly and sees he’s walking towards two little girls, who are probably his daughters. He feels a tug on his hand and looks in that direction, seeing his sister.   
“Hey Lily, I’m sorry for ignoring you. Are you ready to go?” He says as he is picking her up.   
Lily nods at him and he grabs her bag from her as she holds it out to him, slinging it over his shoulder.   
“Let’s go then,” Boyd says and starts walking. 

While walking back home, Lily keeps talking about what she did at the day-care today. For a three-year-old, she sure does love talking and it’s hard to get her to stop talking. She does sometimes still struggle with words and forming sentences, but for a kid her age, she talks very well. It makes Boyd very happy to see her so animated about things – so carefree and happy without any worry. She always talks happily about what she did at day-care but also if it’s one of her own fantasy stories.   
“Bo?” Lilly says, she sometimes shortens Boyd his name to Bo, most of the time when she wants something from him. “Lilly wants pancakes.”  
“Do you Lily?”  
Boyd feels her nodding against his neck and decides that it wouldn’t hurt to make a small stop at the supermarket to the ingredients for pancakes and prepare them at home.   
“Then we will eat pancakes.”   
“Yay, pancakes for Lily, Bo, and Connor,” Lily says.   
Connor is the 14-year-old brother of Boyd and Lily, he’s a high school student. He usually is arriving home around the time Boyd gets back from picking up Lily from day-care. It’s good that Conner is home that early because that means that the three of them can eat together. 

Boyd makes his way towards the supermarket, Lily still on his back – she is slightly swinging her legs along with his steps, kicking her legs softly against him from time to time.   
“Lily wants to walk” she murmurs as they are nearly at the supermarket.   
“Lily, you can walk soon. Once we are in the supermarket you can walk.”   
Boyd feels her head nod against his back and continues walking towards the supermarket. When they reach the supermarket, Boyd lets Lily down and she holds out her hand towards him. He takes her hand and grabs a basket with his free hand. They walk straight towards the milk section of the supermarket and Boyd grabs a carton of milk and puts it in the basket. He and Lily start walking again to grab all the other ingredients. When they have the milk, eggs, flour, and syrup for the pancakes they walk around for a few other things like; drinks, candy, and cookies. When Boyd has grabbed everything, he starts taking Lily towards the cash register. While putting everything on the cash register Lily helps Boyd by handing him stuff.   
After everything is paid and bagged Boyd picks up Lily again and they start making their way home. 

When Boyd and Lily get home, he puts her down and she immediately takes off her coat and shoes and runs towards the kitchen. Boyd laughs slightly and puts the bag down, taking off his jacket and shoes before following his sister towards the kitchen. When entering the kitchen Boyd sees Lily up on a chair already at the counter. Boyd places the bag on the counter and starts grabbing the utensils he needs to make the pancakes.   
Boyd puts the ingredients in a bowl and moves Lily closer to him and the bowl so she can help mix the ingredients. While mixing the batter he hears a door open and he notices that Lily hears it too, because she tries to get off the chair. Boyd helps her and when her feet hit the ground, she runs towards the hall.   
“Connor.” Boyd hears Lily scream before a crashing sound.   
After the crashing sound Boyd hears Connor curse, after a few more curses Connor and Lily come walking into the kitchen. Boyd shakes his head slightly at his brother, Connor knows that Boyd dislikes the cursing which is why he did it before entering the room, even though he knows he shouldn’t do it front of his sister.   
“Hey Boyd,” Connor says. “Are those pancakes you are making?”   
“Hi Connor, yes, you’re right, it’s pancakes I’m making. Lily wanted to eat pancakes.”  
Connor starts grabbing us plates and drinks, putting them down on the kitchen table instead of sitting down and waiting for Boyd to do all the work. Connor also makes sure there is maple syrup on the table and some butter for their pancakes.   
“Lilly, let’s get you dressed in something else before you get all messy,” Connor says.   
Lily climbs off the chair she has been sitting on since she came back from greeting Connor in the hallway. She takes Connor’s hand and the two disappear towards Lilly her bedroom to get changed. While they are away Boyd finishes making the pancakes and stacks them on 3 plates. While he does so, he hears the front door opening, frowning a little at the sound. No one is supposed to be coming home for another hour or so. Boyd makes sure the stove is off before he walks towards the hallway, surprised when he sees his father Isaac standing there.   
“Mmh, do I smell pancakes? Are there some left for me?” His father says with a grin on his face.   
“Of course, dad, there are pancakes for you left.”  
“That’s good,” his father says as he takes off his coat. “Also, Boyd, I would like to talk with you after we finish eating.”   
Boyd nods at his father before walking back towards the kitchen, his thoughts are mixed as he wonders whether he should be afraid or not for the talk with his father. Usually, their father is an easy man, if you don’t cross his boundaries. Boyd sees that Lily and Connor are already patiently waiting at the kitchen table when he enters the room. He makes sure to grab another plate and when he places it down onto the table their father walks in.   
“Papa,” Lily screams when she sees her father.   
“Hello, my little princess.”   
Their father smiles at the three of them before he sits down with them on the dining table, as soon as Boyd sits down Lily attacks her pancakes. Resulting in the other three to chuckle slightly at her action, she just glares at them while she keeps eating.   
“How come you home so early pa?” Connor asks.   
“Well, it was a very boring day today. Wasn’t much to do so I finished work pretty early and then I decided to go home and spend some time with my kids.”

Connor and Lily run towards the living room the moment they are done with their food; Boyd slightly shakes his head at their behaviour before he stands up to clean the table and the kitchen. What Boyd didn’t expect was that his father would help him clean the mess. As soon as Boyd is standing up, his father also stands up, grabbing a few of the things.   
“As I said, I’d like to talk with you, Boyd.”  
Boyd pretends to be busy with loading in the dishwasher, waiting for his dad to continue talking or stop talking. It really doesn’t matter, if he has done nothing extremely then he won’t be in trouble.   
“Boyd I’m really happy and extremely thankful that you’re helping your mom and me out, but I want to talk about your education.”  
When Boyd hears that he nearly let the plates he’s holding drop onto the floor. Luckily, he was able to catch them before any damage was really done just to be sure he won’t drop them again, he puts them on the counter and looks at his father.   
“W-What about its papa?” Boyd stammers slightly, fiddling nervously with his fingers as he waits for the reply.   
“Why didn’t you tell your mother and me?”  
“W-why didn’t I tell you what?”  
“That you dropped out of school.”  
Boyd’s eyes widen; how can his father know about this? He is so screwed, he wanted to tell them himself, but well now he can’t, and he’ll probably be in trouble for it. Before he can even ask his father how he knows he continues talking.   
“The son of a co-worker used to share classes with you. We talked about you guys. Then he told me his son had told him that he hasn’t seen you in ages during the classes. So, I decided to call your school, because I know for a fact you’ve not been sick and then I got told you dropped out of school.”   
His father sits down and points towards the chair next to him, motioning for Boyd to sit down next to him. Boyd just gapes at his father as he slowly walks towards the chair. This wasn’t the way Boyd wanted his father to figure out that he stopped with his education. Boyd wonders if his mother already knows too, he knows she will be disappointed that he dropped out.   
“So, Boyd,” his father talking gets Boyd out of his train of thoughts. “Is it because you want to support your mom and me while we work. Because that’s not the right reason to stop with school.”  
“D-does mom know?” is the only thing leaving Boyd his mouth.   
“No, I haven’t told her Boyd. She’s too busy right now, I couldn’t get hold of her anyway.” He replies calmly. “Boyd please tell me why you dropped out.”  
Boyd starts fiddling with his fingers, slowly he stops to run a hand through his hair as he avoids his father’s eyes. Not wanting to see the disappointment in his father’s eyes. They both let out a deep sigh at the same moment. Boyd knows he should tell his father because he knows his father won’t let him rest before he knows the reason. Boyd gathers up all his courage, slowly opening his mouth and before he knows it everything comes flowing out.   
“I didn’t drop out of school because you and mother, I’ve dropped out because honestly, I didn’t like the course I picked. Not only that, but lately I’ve not felt like myself dad. I don’t know how to feel, and it’s been bothering me. I couldn’t focus on anything school-related and the fact that I didn’t like the course is the reason I stopped.”  
Boyd finally looks up at his father, surprised that he doesn’t see the disappointment in his father’s eyes but understanding.”  
“Why is that son?”  
“I don’t really know dad; I wish I knew it.”  
“Son, you do know that you can always talk to me.”  
Of course, Boyd sort of knows what is going on and why he isn’t really feeling like himself, but if he hasn’t figured it all out himself, he doesn’t know how to tell his father.   
“I know dad. There is something else too that I want to tell you.”  
His father raises an eyebrow, making Boyd smile at the sight he is looking at. His father with a raised eyebrow looks very funny.   
“Well, please enlighten me then.” His father says.   
“Well,” Boyd says, stretching out the word slightly. “I’m actually thinking about taking a job outside of the country. Like go abroad, brighten my horizon and hoping I’ll figure out some of the things out. Of course, I’ll still have to find more information about it and some more research before I even start looking for a job. So, it won’t be right away, but as long as nothing is certain I don’t want to tell mom.”  
“Are you sure about this Boyd?”  
“Yes dad, I am very certain about this. I think I’ll get everything sorted out with myself if I have some new scenery around me. And of course, I promise to keep in contact with you all. I can’t miss my family for too long. Maybe I’ll continue my education there and if not, then I’ll be sure to finish it after coming back.”  
His father let out a soft sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose slightly before nodding.   
“If that’s what you think that you need, I’ll support you fully son. Now shall we finish cleaning this mess and see what your brother and sister are doing.”  
Boyd stands up to resume his activities before his father started about him dropping out of school.   
Once the two men are done with cleaning the kitchen, they walk towards the living room where they find both Connor and Lily sprawled over the floor. Lily sleeps on top of Connor’s stomach while Connor is holding a book up in the air. Studying for one of his tests.   
Boyd and his father sit down on the couch and their father turns on the tv.   
“How about some movies, and maybe some snacks later on?”  
In a speed faster than lighting Connor has his book closed and he’s sitting upright, with Lily her head on his lap, still dozed off.   
Their father puts on an old movie, knowing that Connor loves watching the old movies. While half watching the movie, Boyd is on his phone looking up more information about working abroad.


	5. ~4~

Boyd is so engrossed in his phone that he doesn’t notice that his father has been calling him for the last few minutes, only when he feels a pillow throw his way he finally looks up from his phone.

“Finally earth to Boyd.” His father chuckles, “What where you doing anyway?”

“Mmh just looking up some information online about the au pair stuff and if I can do it.”

His father nods slightly, while there is a comfortable silence with background noises from the television Boyd looks at the ground where his little sister is fast asleep and Connor still watching the screen, with his eyes half-closed. Boyd chuckles slightly at the sight of his siblings together. He knows for them it will be the hardest if he leaves for an unknown amount of time, but they will be fine, and he knows that too.

“So,” Boyd’s father says, getting Boyd’s attention again. “I know we’ve had pancakes very late in the afternoon, but I’m craving food. Since it’s way past dinner time how about we just get some late-night snacks?”

“Yes, please.” Boyd and Connor both say in choir.

Boyd and his father both laugh, Connor who was half asleep is awake in an instant when food is mentioned. Boyd looks at his brother and sees he’s slowly taking of Lily from his lap who is still fast asleep on the lap.

“How about some dim sum?” Connor asks enthusiastically.

 

All three agreed with dim sum and an hour after ordering their food it had arrived. In the meantime, they have brought Lilly upstairs as she had been so tired that she could barely wake up.

While they are halfway through their food the front door opens, signalling that their mother Aubrey has arrived home. When she enters the room, she looks exhausted.

“Good evening dear.” Boyd’s father says.

“Good evening.” His mother replies in a tired voice.

She drops her bag down on the floor next to the couch and makes her way towards the kitchen. Probably getting herself a glass of wine, something that’s happening quite a lot lately with all her work stress.

A minute or so later she arrives back into the living room, indeed with a glass full of wine in her hand. She plops down onto the other couch and sighs loudly as she lets her head fall back.

“Would you like some dinner love?” Isaac asks.

“I’ve already eaten at work,” Audrey replies, sipping her wine.

Isaac nods slightly before he returns to eating. So, do the boys as they know their mom is tired and usually wants to be left alone when she comes home to rest.

“Is Lily already in bed?” Audrey asks after a few minutes of silence.

“Yes, she was really tired, so we brought her to bed not so long ago,” Isaac replies.

Aubrey nods, placing down her glass of wine and standing up, leaving the room to go upstairs going to Lily her room. Boyd follows his mother’s movements since she has been working a lot lately, she has barely spent time with us as a family. It seems unfamiliar for them all that she goes upstairs to probably go to Lily.

When Boyd is finished with his food he waits for his father and brother to be done before he put away their dishes. After that he makes his way upstairs towards his room, he walks past Lily her room, the door is slightly ajar, so he decides to peak in. He sees his mother, fast asleep while she is hugging Lily, instead of waking her up he lets her sleep. Since she has been missing out so much, he doesn’t want to take away this moment of rest with her daughter.

 

Browsing through his phone while laying on bed Boyd lets a soft whine escape from his mouth. He should have thought about what specific kind of job he wanted to do before he decided that he wants to go abroad and work. There are a lot of jobs he can take, for example in hotels he can work without much experience, but that’s not the kind of job he would like to do. Since he is used to working in a restaurant he maybe can work into a restaurant, then again he also has experience with kids since he’s been watching his siblings for ages already. He decides to look for some kind of nanny job.

Within seconds of searching for becoming nanny abroad, he has a ton of sites to look at, the one that sparks his interest is called aupairlife. He immediately registers to the site and fixes his profile to start browsing for advertisements where he can apply. He decides to start looking in Europe, especially England because he has been obsessed with England ever since he got to know the Harry Potter series.   
After searching for a few minutes, he finds an advertisements that seems interesting. A single dad with two kids and a full-time job that’s looking especially for a male au pair. He decides to write a message to the male. After sending the message he puts away his phone, closing his eyes. A soft knock makes him open his eyes again and he slightly sits up as he replies. The door slowly opens and his father walks in, closing the door behind him. Boyd gives his father a small smile as he sits down on his bed, his father smiles back and the sit there in silence for a while.

“And have you already found something that you would like to do?”

“Well, I was actually looking for jobs abroad just a while ago. I found something interesting. A website where people are looking for an au pair.” Isaac gives Boyd a curious look, so Boyd continues. “It’s basically living with a family that needs a nanny, one that’s around more than a usual nanny though. You’ll have to stay at their home to take care of the kids and go with them to trips. But you’ll usually have a day or two of each week. Then I can do my own thing and explore the city and make friends.”

“Sounds interesting. Do you think you’ll be able to do it?”

“Daaad,” Boyd whines jokingly. “I help taking care of Lily and Connor for a long time now, I’m sure I can help a family out.” A bright grin forms on Boyd’s face.

“Yeah, that is true.” Isaac chuckles slightly as he replies. “So, did you find a family already?”

“No, I actually just signed up like thirty minutes ago, but I did send a message to a family. I haven’t checked yet if I received an answer back though. I also should look more into which things are required and which documents I need before I can even go abroad.”

“Well if you need any help you can always ask me, okay.”

“Thanks, Dad, I will do that. Also, can you keep it quiet to mom, I want to tell her later when I know for sure that I can go abroad.”

“Sure, thing son, no problem.”

“Thanks.”

Boyd gives his father a hug and Isaac softly pats him on his back before getting up from the bed, saying something about getting his mom out of Lily’s bed so she can have a good night rest. Once the door is closed Boyd grabs his phone and unlocks it, opening the internet browser to look at the au pair website. He logs in and waits for it to load his messages. He sees that he got a message back from Maxwell Lewis once the page is loaded. A weird noise leaves Boyd his lips as he reads into the reply that Maxwell Lewis is interested in hiring him. So, he starts writing a reply right away.

 

_Hello mister Lewis,_

_Thank you for the fast reply. I’m glad to hear back from you and very excited to hear that you’re considering me for the position._

_I don’t mind having to answer some question for you to get to know me better and know about the experiences I have. I’d love to ask some questions myself, mainly about your family and what I have to do around the house etcetera. I’m comfortable with having skype sessions if you do want to hire me, that way you can see me, and I can see you and the kids before things are made final if you find me the right and fitting person. I hope to hear back from you._

_Kind regards,_

_Boyd Davis._

When the reply is sent Boyd looks at the information page for working in the United Kingdom that is on the website. He starts reading through the stuff he has to take care of, groaning softly as he reads through the page and sees what he needs. He needs; a valid passport, an au-pair contract, a tier 5 visa, a passport picture, a bank statement that says he has enough savings and a tuberculosis test.

Boyd sighs deeply, before coming to the conclusion that he’ll have to ask his dad for help because it’s a lot to take care off. Not only is it a lot but he’s also afraid that he’ll mess something up and his dad can be very helpful with things like the contracts, because of his current job. As he keeps reading the page Boyd keeps feeling the urge to yawn, so he decides to put his phone away and just lay down in bed, trying to sleep. Before he does that, he strips himself off his clothes and then he crawls back into bed again and snuggling up underneath the blankets.

Boyd tosses and turns a few times before he is falling into a light slumber. He is woken up a few minutes later by his phone that has started to ring, without looking at the caller ID he picks up the phone.

“Hey, Boyd buddy,” The voice of Dave fills his ears. “Do you have time this weekend?”

Dave is one of the friends Boyd made when he was at college, even after dropping out of college Dave kept in contact with Boyd. Always asking him to hang out and whatnot.

“Hey Dave, I don’t know yet. Why?”

Boyd tries to stifle a yawn as he replies, rubbing slightly in his eyes before pulling the phone from his ear to look at the time. It’s 10 PM, he wonders why Dave is calling this late since he has classes in the morning.

“Just wanted to hang out, haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I’ll see what I can do. I think I have one shift at Bakelicous this weekend and the other day I’m free, but I’m not sure. I’ll let you know tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure thing, I miss you bud. We really do need to catch up.”

“Yeah, I know. I miss you too.”

“Well let me know okay.”

“Sure thing.”

Without saying goodbye to each other the phone is hung up. Boyd lays it down onto the nightstand again and tries to make himself comfortable again. Since he can’t fall asleep after a few minutes he grabs his phone. He decides to look at his email, maybe he got a mail from the au pair website.

Instead of seeing a mail from the au pair website he sees an email from the contest he had signed himself up for this morning. He opens it and sees he has been accepted to take part in the concept. Maybe he can ask his brother or Dave to help him, but for now, he has other problems. Like making sure everything he has to do for becoming an au pair and asking his dad for help. He decides to set an alarm so he can talk with his dad before he leaves for work. 

 

The following morning Boyd is awake before his alarm goes off, he turns it off completely before he dresses in sweatpants and a shirt. He makes his way towards his dad study and knocks on the door. A soft hum is given in reply and Boyd opens the door.

“Hello, dad,” Boyd says as he sits down on one of the chairs.

“Morning Boyd.” His dad replies.

“Dad can you help me with some things. I checked the list of requirements you have to complete before becoming an au pair and it’s quite a lot.”

“Well with what do you need my help. I’m sure I can help.”

“Well, I need a copy of a bank statement that says I’ve enough savings. Because I need to have a certain amount of savings, just to show I’m capable of taking care of myself. I also need a tier-5 visa and valid passport and passport picture. The passport is what I have already, and it has blank pages for the visa.” Boyd takes a small pause before continuing “There will also be a contract, which you maybe can look over with me and maybe help me fill in if that’s needed. And I need a tuberculosis test but that’s one thing you can’t help me with. So, I’ll call the doctor to make an appointment for that.”

While listing down everything Boyd keeps looking at his dad, who just nods along while Boyd talks. Probably he’s making a mental list for himself when Boyd is finished talking Isaac slightly shifts in his chair to face Boyd more. 

“Of course, I can help with that. I do have a question though.”

“Ask away dad.”

“Did you already find a family that’s interested in hiring you?” 

A small grin appears on Boyd his face, he had told his dad already about sending the mail but not that he has got a reply back from Maxwell.

“Actually dad, yes. By a family in the United Kingdom. When I went to check the site for some more information, I noticed I got a reply. The person is interested in hiring me. He does want to have a reference from either you or someone else I’ve been a nanny at.”

“That sounds nice. I’ll surely help you as much as I can with the paperwork. The visa will take some time though and for that, you should apply as soon as possible when you know if you get the job. Because it can take up to a month or longer. Of course, I’ll also give a reference to him.”

“Thank you, dad. I’ll leave you to work now. I’ll get ready and bring Lily to the day-care.”

“No problem Boys. Also, are you working this weekend?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Well, that’s too bad. I’m taking your mother and siblings on a trip this weekend too bad you can’t join. But at least you can rest after working without any noises and all around you.”

“That’s very nice dad.”

“Yeah, I would like to spend some time with them. Now go get ready. I’m sure you have to work after dropping Lily off. Let me know if anything happens with the family that has answered you.”

Boyd nods and gets up to leave the room. He feels kind of sad that he can’t join his family on the trip but at least he can save up some extra money now for his trip.

When he leaves the room, his mother stands for the door.

“Your father is in there, right?”

“Yes, mom.”

His mother enters the study and Boyd makes his way to Lily her room.

 

When Boyd walks in he sees Lily sitting on the bed with a pout on her face, looking at the clothes that are laid beside her. Boyd sits down next to her and she looks up.

“Boyd, I want to look cute today, but this isn’t cute.”

Boyd chuckles and looks at the pants and shirt. He stands up and walks to the closet. He takes out a cute dress and holds it up towards Lily, without having to ask anything she nods at him and he brings the dress to her.

“Now get dressed, then we will eat breakfast and we will go.”

Boyd goes to his own room and closes the door to get dressed. While he is getting dressed his mind starts to wander off. Boyd wonders whether he made the good decision or not, will this really help him out why he’s feeling so awry? If it won’t then it was at least worth the shot because he will be able to travel and see more of the world and learn about a new culture. He will also learn more about life itself, which mean that it at least will bring something good along with it if he won’t be able to figure himself out.

 

Will he really get answers to most of the questions he’s asking himself. He at least wants an answer to one question and that is the question about if it’s just a phase that he’s checking out males and fantasizing about them or if it isn’t a phase. If it isn’t a phase it will be hard for him to tell his parents, well at least to tell his mother in general. His father will be supportive of him, no matter what but his mother is just a tad bit wary in those kinds of things. He is just scared about his mother her reaction since they haven’t really had one proper conversation lately.

It’s something that Boyd regrets deeply but she sees to be caught up in her work lately, which is why she seems so distant too. There are hardly any chances to be able to talk with his mother because she is also busy on the weekends. If she isn’t busy with work she is busy with the house or her hobbies or just relaxing. He wonders if she will join his father on the trip this weekend.

Boyd gets out of his thoughts as he feels something poke his side, he sees Lily and hurries up before she will be too late.


	6. ~5~

“Papa, papa.” Maxwell wakes up because of Zachary and Darryl calling him.   
He feels his bed slightly dip, knowing both boys have crawled on the bed – within seconds he feels them both jumping up and down on the mattress.   
“Wake up papa,” Darryl says, his little hands shaking Maxwell slightly.   
Maxwell slightly cracks on eye open and stares at the boys, they both look at him with cheeky smiles on their faces. A small smile grows on Maxwell his face as he sees them so happy, it does pain him that he knows they will get bad news today. Zachary won’t really understand what will happen but he knows that Darryl will understand, he is older and he is very smart for his age already.   
“Hi boys.”  
Maxwell sits up a little and once he sits comfortably both boys jump on top of him, giving him a hug. He wraps his arms around them both and places a kiss on top of each of their heads.   
“Are you ready for school today Darryl?” Maxwell feels him nod against his shoulder. “But first we got to eat breakfast and get you ready for school.”  
Before he knows it Darryl crawls out from underneath his arm and is off the bed, Maxwell looks at Zachary who is still cuddled up against him.   
“Hey little tyke, it’s time for breakfast.”   
“Okay, Papa.”  
Zachary slowly crawls off Maxwell and sits down on the bed, Maxwell looks at him and sees him pouting. A soft chuckle leaves Maxwell as he pokes Zachary in the cheek, the pout growing bigger.  
“Papa, help?”   
Maxwell can’t help but melt when he looks at Zachary’s puppy face. He knows that Zachary wants to be carried downstairs and his puppy face and pout is his way of asking. Maxwell climbs out of bed and picks Zachary up, holding him close. 

He feels very grateful for still having the kids, even when he and Kate are now officially divorced. He can’t imagine a life without them, especially now that he knows Kate is moving out of the United Kingdom. He doesn’t know what he would have done if she would take the kids with her, he knows he’d be heartbroken because he can’t move along with them. He would have gotten the lawyers involved for a legal battle to keep Kate from moving out of the United Kingdom with the kids.   
Since he has full custody over them if he had to fight Kate to keep the kids in the United Kingdom he knows he would win that battle. Knowing Kate though he knows she would have found a way to sabotage it if that would have happened.   
Luckily he doesn’t have to worry about those things, the only thing he has to worry about now is that he finds the right au pair, since he can’t seem to find a fitting nanny in all those months.   
“Papa, hurry.” Maxwell hears Darryl from the hallway.   
Maxwell hadn’t noticed that he was spacing out while thinking about not having the boys in his life. He starts walking out of the room and into the hallway when he enters he sees Darryl running of the stairs. He starts to walk a little faster so he can keep an eye on him since he doesn’t want him to fall off the stairs. 

Once they are in the kitchen Maxwell puts Zachary down into the high chair and then walks to the stove. He starts looking through the drawers and in the fridge to see what’s available. Maxwell sees that he has everything in house for French toast, so he grabs the ingredients.   
“Papa, what are you going to make?” Darryl stand next to him.   
“I’ll make French toast.”   
It stays silence after that, so Maxwell starts to beat the eggs with the milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Once that is done he puts the frying pan on the stove and soak the bread into the egg mixture.  
When Maxwell is done with the French toasts he brings the plate to the table together with some cutlery and syrup.  
After eating Maxwell starts cleaning the kitchen while Darryl and Zachary are finishing their last few bites. He loads everything in the dishwasher while he is waiting for his coffee to be ready. 

After the boys are finished Maxwell goes upstairs with them, he lays down clothes for Darryl on his bed to get dressed and Zachary he helps. Since he needs to take the diaper off and start dressing him. Even though Zachary is nearing the age of three and goes without diapers at day most of the time he still isn’t fully potty-trained and thus needs diapers at night and when they go away for a trip.   
Darryl enters Zachary’s room when he’s done changing and he just waits on the bed until Maxwell is done with Zachary.   
“Time to brush your teeth and get your faces cleaned,” Maxwell says as he puts down Zachary on the floor.  
Darryl nods and walks off to the bathroom, Zachary follows him towards the bathroom and Maxwell does the same. When they are in the bathroom Maxwell sees Darryl putting his stool in front of the sinks o he can grab his toothbrush. Maxwell helps Zachary and places him on the sink, grabbing the toothbrush that belongs to Zachary and puts toothpaste on it before handing it to Darryl.   
Maxwell helps Zachary with brushing his teeth and when he is done with helping Zachary he cleans his own face and grabs his own toothbrush to brush his teeth. 

When they are all cleaned up and dressed Maxwell sees there is some time left so he lets the kids watch TV. While the kids are watching TV Maxwell sits in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and the newspaper to kill some time.   
When he is done reading the newspaper he gets to his study to get his stuff for work, he rarely empties the bag from his work so it means that he just have to take the bag with him without any worries.   
“Darryl, Zachary hurry up. We have to leave or we will be too late.” Maxwell says from the hallway once he is done from his study.   
He hears the television being turned off and some stumbling in the living room and within seconds the boys are standing in front of him. Both looking unkempt, which means they weren’t just watching television but probably wrestling while watching television. Maxwell shakes his head slightly at the boys before smoothening their hair and clothes.   
“Come on boys.” He says while handing Darryl his bag.   
Darryl takes the bag and Maxwell opens the door so they can step out of the house. After closing and locking the door Maxwell helps the kids getting in the car, making sure the boys are buckled up.   
After starting the engine Maxwell starts to drive, first to Darryl his school to get him to class and then towards his mother to drop off Zachary. 

A small sigh leaves Maxwell’s lips the moment he has let himself fall into the seat behind his desk at work. He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes slightly before putting back on his glasses. He starts up his computer and looks through his agenda, he sees that his first appointment will be starting in thirty minutes. The patient he will be seeing as his first appointment today is a rather new patient who is having a hard time with opening op to him.   
While Maxwell gets lost in ideas of how to let the new patient open up to him more he nearly misses the incoming sound from a new notification. He checks the notification and sees that it’s from Luna, his receptionist, telling him that his last appointment of the day was cancelled.   
That means Maxwell will be able to go home a little earlier unless there is an emergency appointment calling today. That rarely happens lately because a lot of his patients are near the end of their sessions and are doing way better than when they entered the therapy. 

Once the thirty minutes have passed Maxwell gets another incoming sound from a notification, this time it is to tell him that Hayden has arrived. Maxwell pushes his chair back and stands up making his way to the door and opens it, he opens it and calls in Hayden.   
Hayden walks into the room and Maxwell points at one of the chairs that Hayden can sit down on, he sits down and Maxwell sits in front of him.   
“Good morning Hayden, how are you feeling today?”  
“Morning,” Hayden mumbles back, fidgeting a bit. “I guess I’m doing okay.”  
“Well that doesn’t sound good, would you mind telling me what’s going on?”  
Hayden starts telling his story and Maxwell takes small notes so he can update the details to his file after the session. As Hayden is talking Maxwell asks him some questions, perceiving that he is opening up a little bit more now.   
While Hayden talks Maxwell keeps observing him, noticing that he’s letting all the emotions go without holding them back for the first time since they have started. Maxwell is glad that Hayden is finally opening up to him this way, so he can start helping him better and that means that he finally can do his work the right way.   
There is a slight pause during the story and Maxwell glances at the clock, he sees it is nearing the end time of the session.   
“Hayden, we have ten more minutes left. If you like you can finish now or we can pick up the conversation next week again.”  
Hayden nods but goes back to telling the story, as Maxwell listens to it, it seems that Hayden is close to the end of his story already. Within a few minutes, he is done telling what happened and Maxwell gives him a few tips which he can use to distract himself during the day. Hayden stands up when the session is over and Maxwell stands up too and gives a handshake before opening the door.   
“I’ll see you next week.”  
“Till next week.”  
Hayden closes the door after him and Maxwell walks back to his desk, to start adding all the new information from Hayden to his file. 

When Maxwell is on his lunch break he decides to go into the shopping mall that’s close to the building he’s working at. They have a super nice café there and he knows he can be at peace there without any of his co-workers near him to barge in because they need something.   
Maxwell is sitting down at one of the tables of the café he’s sitting at and scrolling through his phone. Then he gets a call notification, he looks at the name and sees that it’s his mother. He picks up the phone straight away and he hears Zachary screaming in the background right away. 

“What’s happening?” there is slight panic in his voice.   
“Zachary doesn’t want to sleep, so he decided that throwing a tantrum would be the best way to stay awake. Maybe you can calm him down and get him to sleep.”  
“Sure ma, just give the phone to him and say it’s me.”  
In the background there is some noises, Maxwell hears his mom say to Zachary that it’s him and before he knows it he hears that the phone is given to Zachary because the sobbing is louder.   
“Hey little tyke, grandma says you don’t want to sleep.” Maxwell says in a soft voice.   
He hears Zachary calming down and after a few seconds he starts to mumble something inaudible back in the phone. It’s obvious he is very sleepy, it’s noticeable through the tone of his voice but he always has to fight his sleep. Especially when he knows he will be with his mother.   
“Why don’t you want to sleep?”  
“Not sleepy.” A soft and sleepy mumble that is now audible.   
“Then why don’t you tell grandma that you’d like to watch some television with her in bed.”  
“Okay papa, but no sleep.”  
“No sleep little tyke, can I speak to grandma again?”  
Maxwell doesn’t hear Zachary complain and after a few seconds the voice of his mother is heard again through the phone.   
“Yes Maxwell?”  
“Just lay down with him in bed and put one some television, before you know it he falls asleep. He’s just in this phase where he doesn’t want to sleep a lot even though he is tired. Also knowing he will see his mom makes him want to stay up all the time. I’m not quite sure what that is about just yet. Maybe afraid that he won’t be able to see her when he is asleep.”  
“Max, dear god please stop analysing your own kid as if he is one of your clients. But I’ll go lay down with him and watch some television. I’ll let you know how things work out today, okay?”  
“Sorry mom, I’ll stop with it. Yes please, if it’s really urgent to let me know what happened you can just call the office and Luna will make sure you get in touch with me.”  
“I know, I know.”  
Before Maxwell can even say anything else to his mother she has hung up on him already, so he just stares straight ahead of him mindlessly playing with the food on his plate. 

When it’s time for Kate to meet the boys Maxwell is working again and he has a hard time focusing on his work. He keeps thinking about his boys and how they are doing. He knows that his mother will be there with them and won’t leave them alone with Kate without a fight, but still he is very worried about them. 

~~~~~~~~~ the boys and Abigail meeting Kate ~~~~~~~~~ 

Abigail walks into the little lunch room with Zachary and Darryl, this is the meeting point for them with Kate. She sits the boys down after ordering orange juice for them both and some tea for herself.   
Abigail keeps looking around the room whenever she hears the door opening, hoping to spot Kate and end this meeting as soon as possible. Next to worrying about her grandsons, she is also worrying about her son. Knowing how Maxwell is he is trying his best to focus on work, but won’t be able to leave this to rest in the back of his mind. 

After waiting for more than 30 minutes Kate finally enters the little lunch room, her eyes are immediately scanning the crowd and when she spots her kids she speed walks towards the table.   
“Hello boys, I can’t stay very long because I have a very important meeting in an hour.”   
Kate sits down as she makes that announcement. She leaves her coat on and waves at the waiter to turn around when it’s making his way towards the table. She’s making it very clear that she’s in a great hurry and she probably would rather spend her time somewhere else than here.   
“So maybe your dad already told you but I have something to tell you boys,” she takes a small break to take a deep breath and then she continues talking again. “So, Harry and I will be moving to Germany. This weekend already, so I came to say goodbye for now. Hopefully I can see you two during the holidays.”   
Abigail watches Zachary and Darryl, neither one of them is really responsive to what their mother is telling them. They don’t really look too shocked, which Abigail doesn’t blame them for. Since the divorce they haven’t really seen their mom or heard from her, she was always busy. 

~~~~~~~~   
Maxwell turns off his computer when he is finished with writing the last patient rapport of that day, once he is done with turning off his computer he grabs his briefcase and opens it to take out his phone. It’s 6:00 p.m. which means that Kate has already met up with the boys. He is dying to know how it went but he knows better than to pester his mother with calls when she’s probably busy with making dinner right now. She also knows he has finished work so if it was really important she would be calling already, so he decides to wait and starts on his journey home. 

When he enters the living room at home he sees Zachary and Daryl in front of the telly, with a plate of fries and burgers on their laps.   
“Hello Max,” the voice comes from the kitchen.   
Maxwell walks towards the kitchen, before entering the kitchen he places his briefcase next to the couch.   
“So, how did it to go with Kate?”  
“It went good, don’t you worry too much about it kiddo.” His mom smiles at him and hands him a plate with fries and burgers too. “The kids wanted fries and burgers, so we went out around 6 to get them at five guys. Anyway before you ask, the kids took it well. They weren’t shocked or anything, they only really wanted to know why she is leaving. They weren’t keen on asking her when they will be able to see her. Because we all know she likes to cancel things last minute.”   
“Thanks mom, I’m glad you where there with them because now they didn’t had to be alone with their mom. Anyway you can go home to dad now. Tell him we’ll be coming over this weekend.”  
“I will dear, now go join your boys.”   
Maxwell walks his mother towards the door and as soon as she is gone he joins his boys on the couch with his food. Both Zachary and Daryl crawl against him when he is seated and a smile forms on Maxwell his lips.


	7. ~6~

~6~

 Boyd turns off his screen after making an doctor’s appointment online, he gets up from his chair and paces around a bit. He hasn’t checked his mail or the au pair website yet and maybe he should do that. Because what if he’s making this appointment for nothing because Maxwell has chosen another person to become the au pair of his kids.

Boyd lets himself fall back into the chair and turns on his laptop, while it’s loading he’s playing nervously with his phone. Once the laptop is fully loaded he opens the internet and types in the website. He sees a notification bulb in the screen and he clicks on it, he has a message back from Maxwell.

 

_Hello Boyd,_

_I’m glad you don’t mind answering a few questions. How about you answering a few through the mail and then how about Sunday we plan a skype session. Since you mentioned before that you take care of your siblings maybe one of your parents can join in and answer a few questions too._

_Anyway the questions I’d like to ask you right now are:_

_How would it be for you to leave your parents and go abroad?  
What do you like the most about taking care of children?_

_Also what would you do if one of the children misbehaves?_

_Would you mind to do some light housework and cooking aside from taking care of the kids?_

_Do you have a driving license? That way the kids can be taken to school._

_And most importantly do you have any first-aid training for when something happens to one of the children._

_I hope you can make it this Sunday for a skype session, the kids will be around too during this session. Maybe it’s best to have the session around 6p.m. your time because of the time difference._

_Kind regards,_

_Maxwell Lewis._

Before answering Boyd gets out of his chair and hurries towards his fathers room, he knocks on the door and opens it without waiting for his father to allow him in.

“Father, I’ve got an answer from the family.” Boyd flails and flops down on the chair.

Isaac laughs at his sons antics and straighten himself a bit before he says something.

“Boyd, calm down. So tell me what is his reply that you’re like this.”

“He wants to have a skype session this Sunday, so be home before 6p.m this weekend because he also want to speak with one of my parents.”

“I’ll make sure to be back home around noon so we can prepare you a bit for the skype session. How does that sound?”

“That sounds good dad, thanks. I’ll go now to reply to him.”

Boyd hurries back to his own room, half falling out of the chair when he tries to sit down in front of his laptop and he starts to type away.

 

_Hello mister Lewis,_

_I’ve discussed with my father and he will be joining me Sunday during the skype session. He’ll be also the person to check all the papers and if everything is correct and legally. Now to your questions._

_It might be hard for me to leave my parents and siblings to go abroad but I think it’s something I’d have to do for myself. I think it will take me a few weeks to get used to it but it won’t be something to affect me for the whole period of time._

_What I like the most about taking care of kids now is that I can see the joy the have whenever we do something that they like. The purity they have and show whenever you take care of them or help them is something I also like._

_Whenever one of the kids misbehaves I’ll be discussing with you what I should do the next time it happens. It depends on what way they misbehave but if it’s extreme then I’ll be putting them on a time-out. When you’ll be back home I’ll still discuss it with you if they have put them on time-out._

_I won’t mind doing some light housework and cooking, I help with those things already at home so I do have some experience with it. I’m also a quite skilled cook if I can say so myself._

_Yes I do have a driver licence. I may do have to need to take a drive with someone next to me for a few times since in England the steering wheel is positioned different, same as the placement of your car on the road._

_I’ve recently gotten my first-aid training so I do know what to do when something happens to the children._

_I hope this answers your questions for now and I can’t wait to see you and your kids during the skyping session this Sunday._

_Kind regards,_

_Boyd Davis_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Before Boyd knows it it’s Sunday already, and just like his dad has promised he comes back around noon from the trip he took with the others. Boyd walks towards them once they enter the door and he greets them with a big smile.

“There is lunch for you guys ready in the kitchen.”

“Are there pancakes.” Lily asks enthusiastically

“Yes there are pancakes.” Boyd laughs.

Everyone goes towards the kitchen and Boyd follows them to join them for the lunch.

 

When they are done with the lunch and cleaning up Boyd and Isaac go toward Isaac his study, to prepare for the skype session they will have with Maxwell Lewis in a hours. Boyd feels slightly nervous, because he doesn’t really know what to expect. So he is actually happy that his father will join him with the skype session.

“So Boyd, what do you think he’d like to know from me?”

“I guess just some things about how you experienced the help you got from me with the kids and well maybe also about the chores I do at home.”

“Mmh that will be no problem to tell. I’m actually glad you’re helping. Less glad about the fact that you stopped with your education, but if you feel this is what you need to do now then I can’t force you to continue with that.”

“I know dad, that’s why I kept it for myself for so long. But really I’ll get my education, after I figure things out myself. And I’ll be looking into whatever I can do for my education in England if I get the position. Who knows, maybe I’ll go into childcare.”

“I know son, I know. So now the biggest question is of course, what would he like to know about you and such.”

“He did ask me a few questions already, about working with kids and how I’d deal in some situations. I guess he’ll be asking more like those questions. I guess he’d also ask questions about my personality and what I’d like to do.”

“Well, all I can say is just be yourself and be honest and don’t stress too much about it. Being honest will only show him what kind of person you are.”

“Mmh I know dad, thanks for wanting to help me out with all this.”

“You’re welcome. How about we take a walk to get you relaxed, maybe we can grab a cup of coffee somewhere. We have plenty of time left.”

“That sounds nice, there is a nice new coffee shop near the park. How about we try that one out.”

 

Boyd and his father sit down in the coffee shop once they have ordered their coffee. Boyd takes out his phone and turns on the screen to see the time. It’s 3:30P.M. which means they still have enough time. After setting up the meeting with Maxwell Lewis there was barely any contact through the website, they did exchange their skype accounts and have made sure to remember each other about the meeting they have. Boyd is getting slightly nervous since it’s getting closer now to finally have the skype meeting. He does know from Maxwell that there is another candidate, but other than that he doesn’t know what to expect and all.

When the coffee arrives Boyd looks up from his screen that has darkened a long time ago already. He was so in his own thoughts that he forgot about his father too, who is just smiling at him.

“Don’t worry kid, if he doesn’t accept you there will be another family that will. We only have to  make a few changes with your visa then, unless the family lives in England too.”

“I know dad,  it’s just I wish I was the only one that he deems fitting so it won’t be hard to get the job.”

“Sadly not everything is easy Boyd.” Isaac chuckles.

Boyd nods and takes a sip of his coffee.

 

Around 5:30P.M. Boyd is getting nervous, since it’s only 30 minutes left now before the meeting. He is back home already and he’s now sitting at the kitchen counter, eating some carrots, so that he won’t be super hungry during the session. His father joins him in the kitchen and sits down next to him.

“So where do you want to do it? We can sit in my study if you would like that.”

“That sounds great, since that is the most natural space here.”

“Well, finish your snack and then we will set up everything in my study.”

In a record time Boyd finish his carrot and he goes upstairs, his dad follows him. Boyd goes to his own room and his father to the study already. Boyd decides to change his shirt, since it’s an old one. He picks a polo and puts it on as fast as he can. He picks up his laptop and the charger just in case it’s nearly empty and goes to his fathers study.

“Boyd, it looks like you just came out of bed, your hair is all messy. Give me your laptop I’ll start it and then you can go fix your hair.”

“Thanks.”

Boyd hands over his laptop and sprints to the bathroom. He grabs some of his mothers hair products and puts it in his hair to fix it. When it’s fixed he hurries back towards his father study, he checks the time on his phone and sees that he has ten minutes left. He sits down next to his father and opens up his skype.

 

When the sound of a skype call rings through the room Boyd nervously presses on the accept button. When the screen pops up it’s black for a few seconds before who he is assume is Maxwell Lewis and his kids appear. The small boy is waving and Boyd nervously waves back.

“Hello, I’m Maxwell Lewis.” The older male smiles, his British accent heavy.

Boyd is starstruck by the older male, he could see from the pictures that it is a handsome male but actually seeing him through something the skype session is different. Maybe because he actually is as handsome as soon on his pictures without editing.

“Hello, I’m Boyd. It’s nice to meet you mister Lewis.”

“My name is Darryl and this is Zachary.” The older boy says as he’s pointing at him and his little brother.

“Hello Darryl and Zachary. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, this must be your father with you. Mister Davis, right?”

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you too mister Lewis.”

“So, well we’re having this session of course because Boyd is interested in become the au pair of Darryl and Zachary. I’ve got a few questions for the both of you. Since I’ve asked Boyd a few questions through mail already why don’t I start with you mister Davis.”

“That’s alright with me.”

“So Boyd did mention that you’ll be the one to check all the legal papers and such. I assume you work as an attorney or something else.”

“You’re right. I work as an attorney and I’d like that everything is legally correct for my son. I think you can understand that too.”

Maxwell nods in reply and he looks at his own boys.

“It’s for a longer period of time, you know that already. So I’m wondering how you feel about not having your son around for such long time.”

“It’ll be hard, especially in the start. Because he does a lot for the family. As it is his wish I accept it and fully understand his decisions he made. I’m actually glad he’s choosing for himself. Of course I’ll be keeping contact with him and if we can I’d like to visit him during the holidays so we can see him.”

 

Boyd is glad that his father can talk this easily. It makes it a little easier for him to relax too. Because well his dad is giving all the right answers in his opinion.

“What I understood from Boyd is that he helps around at home a lot. So it means he has experience in taking care of kids and probably helping with the housework. Can you tell me something about it and how you experienced it. Even though he is your own son.”

“Actually my wife and I have experienced it as very pleasant. Because we are both busy with work it is actually a relief to know our other two kids are in good hands. Boyd knows what he is doing and is able to be handle well in all kind of situations. It’s nice that he knows how to cook too,  because with that he has helped us out plenty of times already.”

“That’s good to know. I’m happy to hear that you are happy with his help around the house and with his siblings. Because it’s important for me that he knows what he does and it seems like he actually does know.”

“Yes he does. He also likes to do research before he starts something. So he has taken long enough to educate himself about being an au pair before he took the steps to come in contact with family.”

“That’s also good to hear. Well Boyd for you I also have a few questions to ask. Mostly about you. Since the questions I asked over the mail have been directed a lot towards taking care of the kids and such.”

“That’s fine with me.” Boyd says with a small smile.

“What do you like to do in your free time?”

“Well I love the nature. So I’d love to go out and explore, doing things like taking walks into parks and such. I also love to read books, so when I can’t go out that’s what I usually do. I’m not much of a gamer so that’s not something I’d easily do. I do enjoy a good movie or series so sometimes I do that too.”

“Well, England has a lot of bad weather.” Maxwell chuckles. “Anyways, you’ve mentioned before that you’re taking a break from college and you’d like to enrol again sometimes. I don’t mind that and if you’d like to enrol when you’re here we can see what we can do.”

“Yes that’s right. If I know what I want for education I’d like to enrol again. Maybe if it’s possible in England and otherwise I’d do it when I’m back in Canada again.”

“Mmmhmmh. Well you’ve also told a bit about your family already. I’ve never heard you about any relationship. Do you have one and if so what does your lover think about you leaving for such a long time?”

“I don’t have any relationship right at this moment. So I don’t have any lover that has to worry about me leaving the country.”

 

“Well Darryl also has questions.”

“Well he can ask away.”

Darryl and Zachary look up when one of their names is mentioned. They where not even paying much attention to what was happening. But now one of them is mentioned they show interest.

“Boyd, would you go to the park with us?” A cheeky smile is on Darryl his face.

“Of course, I love the park so I’d take you guys there whenever you guys want.”

“Do we have to eat our veggies?” The younger of the two asks.

Boyd laughs softly at the question and nods slightly. “

“Sadly, yes you do need to eat your veggies. Because if you eat your veggies you’ll grow into a strong big boy.”

Zachary pouts at that answer but he goes back to what he was doing when he hears that he’ll be a strong big boy if he eats his veggies.

“Will you be playing games with us, and do crafts?”

“I’d play games with you guys and help you with the crafts whenever you need help with them.”

“Thank you Boyd.” Darryl says. “Papa I have no questions anymore.”

“Well then I guess we are done for now. I’ve had a talk with the other person before I had this talk with you. I’ll see what the boys prefer and what I think is the best option for them. I’ll let you know through mail this weekend. There will be a chance that you’ll get it later during the day. It was nice meeting you mister Davis and Boyd. Have a nice evening.”

“Thank you. It was also nice meeting you mister Lewis, Darryl and Zachary. I hope to hear from you soon.”

The call gets disconnected and Boyd let go of a big sigh he has been holding or a while now.

“That went well Boyd, don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks for being here with me dad.”

“No problem. Shall we go downstairs for dinner?”

Boyd nods and turns off his laptop. He’ll put it away after he had dinner.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll try to upload weekly.


End file.
